Discipleship Series # 6
(#5 unavailable)
What is the Goal of a Disciple?
II Timothy 2:1-6
SCRIPTURE READING: II Timothy 2:1-6
INTRODUCTION:
David Glass was the CEO of the Wal-Mart from 1988 – 2000. Back in 1962, he heard that a guy named Sam Walton was about to hold the grand opening for his second store in Harrison, Arkansas. Glass, who was running a successful drug-store chain in Missouri, decided to attend Sam Walton’s grand opening. What he saw did not impress him. You see, Walton had dumped a couple of truckloads of watermelons in the front parking lot. He also had a bunch of donkeys in the parking lot for the kids to ride. Well, the temperature on the asphalt got up to about 115 degrees that afternoon. The watermelons started exploding from the heat. And of course, the donkeys did what donkeys do…
Looking back on that day, David Glass recalled, “The parking lot was a mess. And inside the new store was also a mess. I thought Sam Walton was a nice fellow, but I wrote him off. It was the worst store operation I had ever seen.”
Well, 25 years later, David Glass was working for Sam Walton as President of what had become the most successful chain of retail stores in the world. Glass explained that there was something inside Sam Walton that made him improve every day. He was not a man who set up impossible ideals. But he was a man who always aimed for a goal.
Aiming for a goal is important in every area of life. Aim determines direction. In basketball, you aim for the basket before you let go of the ball. In football, you kick the ball over the “goal-post.” The way you aim a pistol determines the direction the bullet will go. But too often, we’re inclined to “go off half-cocked” so to speak. We use the method: “Ready …. FIRE ……… Aim…..” You’re not going to hit many targets that way!
What is the Goal?
As Disciples of Jesus Christ, we need to ask: What is our GOAL? The Apostle Paul answered that question in the last letter he wrote to his young disciple, Timothy: You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. II Timothy 2:1-2
Paul wrote this letter from a prison cell. He knew he would soon be executed. But Paul also knew he had invested the Message in his Disciple, Timothy. So he told Timothy to invest the Message in other reliable men who would continue the Discipling process.
This is the GOAL. The Goal of a Disciple is to make Disciples …. who will make other Disciples … who will make more Disciples … who will make still more Disciples …
If you think about it, that Discipling process is why you and I are here in this room today. The reason you are in church this morning is because someone Discipled someone … who Discipled someone … who Discipled someone … who eventually Discipled the one who Discipled YOU.
Now, who are YOU discipling?
The main way we disciple others is through Christian Service. This is what the Church is all about. The life of a congregation is centered on Discipleship: whether you teach a class, or help in the nursery, or serve as a greeter, or attend a Pueblo Group, or set up tables for a fellowship dinner, or visit people in the hospital. Everything that brings you in contact with other Christians --- or with people who might become Christians --- is an chance to Disciple others.
No Christian is too old or too young to disciple others. If you are young, the ones that are younger than you are watching. Whether they are little brothers and sisters, or kids here at church, the way you treat them makes a lasting impact.
Way back, when I was a boy in Scottsdale Arizona, I gave a few guitar lessons to a younger boy in our church. I enjoyed teaching him, but I didn’t think much about it at the time. As it turned out, that boy not only learned how to play the guitar, he also went to Bible College and then went into the ministry. I had no idea that I had influenced those decisions until his parents told me about it years later.
Of course, those of us who are parents are Discipling our children every single day. Like it or not, you WILL have tremendous influence on your own children … as well as on your nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and so on. The question is not, Will you have an influence? The question is, Will you influence them for Christ?
Now, if you are an older person … a Seasoned Citizen so to speak … your Discipling days are not over! You are showing others what it means to follow Christ for a lifetime. Remember, even if your health fails … God has a purpose for every day of your life. I’ve seen people disciple others from a Hospital bed, or from a wheel-chair in a Nursing Home. In fact, I firmly believe it is the prayers of our older folk that keep this church on track.
I want to challenge all of you to do what Paul asked Timothy to do: choose someone that you can Disciple. Ask God who that person is. Then make time to be with them --- to invest yourself in that person --- so that they will be able to disciple someone else. That is the GOAL of a Disciple.
But it won’t be easy. Dwight L Moody said, “It is better to train ten people than to do the work of ten people. But it is harder.” Paul gave Timothy 3 word pictures to illustrate What it will Take to Disciple others.
What does it take to reach the Goal?
1. Dedication of a Soldier
The first example is that of a Soldier: Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. II Timothy 2:3-4
A soldier lives a hard life. He knows that he is headed for danger. And on the way he is likely to endure deprivation. Soldiers endure extremes of climate; soldiers go without sleep, food, and water. And soldiers on active duty, are not allowed to get involved in civilian affairs. The phrase get involved in could be translated get tangled up in. In the Roman world, a soldier was not even allowed to get married while he was enlisted. (Keener, IVP Bilbe Background commentary, p. 626)
Paul said a Soldier’s whole aim is to please his commanding officer. Back then, Generals recruited their own soldiers. So your commanding officer was often the very man who recruited you. That practice continued up until this century. Back in the 1800’s the Italians had an Army General named Guiseppe Garibaldi. He became a legendary Hero by recruiting an incredibly DEDICATED army of volunteers. Listen to how Guiseppe would appeal for recruits: “I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles, and death. Let him who loves his country with his Heart and not with his Lips Only, follow me!”
Jesus Christ gives a similar appeal to any who will follow Him. Let him who loves his God with his Heart and not with his Lips Only, follow me!” As soldiers who follow Christ, we might be fighting a spiritual battle, or we might be enduring hard times, or even enjoying some leisure time … no matter what, we aim to please our commanding officer. We stay away from anything that would displease Jesus Christ. Like Soldiers, we are completely DEDICATED to the One who enlisted us.
2. Discipline of an Athlete
Paul’s next example is an Athlete. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. II Timothy 2:5
In the ancient Olympic Games, athletes trained for at least two years before the games. An athlete without DISCIPLINE would never make it. According to an Article in a magazine called Scientific American, today’s Olympic competitors endure about 1,000 hours of intense training in order to achieve an improvement of one single percentage point in the competition. But it is often a single percentage point that wins the Gold.
In 1992, American Gail Devers won the 100-meter dash by only 6/100th of a second. Hers is an amazing story, because Gail suffers from Grave’s Disease. Just one year before she won the Olympic Gold, Gail came within two days of having both feet amputated. After surviving that scare, she began to train and push herself toward her goal. Her self-discipline and persistence won the day.
Any successful athlete has to have DISCIPLINE … the discipline to train and the discipline to follow the rules. It does no good to win the race and then be disqualified because you broke the rules.
In a recent NCAA cross-country championship held in Riverside, California, 123 of the 128 runners missed a turn. Mike Delcavo was 1st runner who stayed on the 10,000 meter course. He began waving for fellow runners to follow him, but only 4 other runners came with him. Afterwards an interviewer asked Delcavo how the other runners responded when he stopped following the crowd. Delcavo responded, "They thought it was funny when I went the right way."
As a Disciple, you have a race marked out for you by Christ. The crowd is most certainly not headed in that direction. In fact, you may have to ignore the laughter of the crowd. But you can rejoice over the ones who have the courage to follow you.
Here’s how Paul said it at the end of his last letter to Timothy: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness." II Timothy 4:7-8
According to Paul, a Disciple must have the
• Dedication of a Soldier,
• the Discipline of an Athlete,
• and the Diligence of a Farmer.
3. Diligence of a Farmer
The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. II Timothy 2:6-7
During my time at Ozark Christian College, I sang with an Iowa farm boy named Dan Neldeberg. His Dad had a large farm in Whiting. The Pioneer Seed Corn Company paid him to produce variant strains of seed corn for the company. Dan told me that for the typical farmer; at least 1 out of every 7 years would be a financial washout for the farm. Farmers have to plan for regular catastrophes. Since farmers only get one paycheck per year … at harvest time … crop failure meant no pay-check for at least two years. His dad had faced many such disasters. It takes patience, persistence, and plain old hard work to be a successful farmer. Farming is no hobby for a person to dabble in. Farming is a commitment that requires all a man has and then some.
In the same way, a disciple who wishes to disciple others needs DILIGENCE like that of a farmer. The harvest won’t come in a day or even a month --- and a Disciple doesn’t mature overnight either. Most discipling plans I am aware of call for at least a year’s involvement, one-on-one, with each disciple. But the harvest will come. The harvest comes because those you Disciple will Disciple others. Then the 2 of you will Disciple others --- who will Disciple others --- and so on. Imagine the impact on the church if every Disciple-maker in the church grew a new Disciple-maker each year.
CONCLUSION:
Paul ended this section of the letter with these words: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel … II Timothy 2:8 This is what gave Paul the strength to keep Discipling Timothy … even from a Prison cell. Paul would not give up, even though he was facing death. He knew that Jesus overcame death in the end.
That’s what will give you and me the strength to keep on keeping on with the Dedication of a Soldier; the Discipline of an Athlete, and the Diligence of a Farmer.
• When you get tired … Remember Jesus.
• When you get discouraged … Remember Jesus.
• Remember Jesus … who Discipled 12 men who … in time … Discipled the world.
